Denison rallies past Wooster

GRANVILLE -- It wasn't a case of turnovers that proved costly for The College of Wooster in its 81st meeting with long-time North Coast Athletic Conference rival Denison University on Saturday -- it was simply one of not hanging onto the football long enough when it counted.

Despite leading at the half 7-3, a feat the Scots have duplicated in each of their three losses, the Big Red controlled the ball for 19:36 of the second half.

That ball control enabled Denison to score 27 unanswered points and spark a 30-22 win in the battle for "The Old Red lantern" in front of 2,248 fans at Deeds Field-Piper Stadium.

The loss dropped the Scots to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the NCAC.

"First of all, l give all the credit in the world (to Denison)," said Wooster coach Mike Schmitz. "They came out and played hard, they executed very well and pretty much played mistake-free football.

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"But, as I told our kids right after the game, we on the other hand are at a crossroads in our season," he said. "Our team has to make a decision on which way they want (the remainder of the season) to go over our final six games."

Although the Big Red (2-2, 1-1 NCAC) took an early 3-0 lead on Matt Puracchio's 28-yard field goal with 7:38 left in the opening quarter, Wooster's defense kept the Scots in the game until Richard Barnes scored from 3 yards out. It capped an 80-yard, six-play drive that gave the Scots a 7-3 lead at the break.

But, in what has become an all-too-familliar trend in each of Wooster's three losses, the Scots squandered opportunities to score, or add to their lead.

Before Barnes's run put the Scots up 7-3 late in the second, Wooster was in striking distance early in the quarter, as Jordan McIntyre rushed for 32 yards to the Denison 21, before a dead ball, personal foul following the run, pushed the Scots back to the 36.

A pair of incomplete passes, followed by a dropped pass on fourth-and-11, disintegrated the drive.

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To make matters worse, the Scots received the third-quarter kick and drove to midfield, before a pair of sacks pushed the Scots back to their own 35.

Denison's Colin Morris returned Dana Obery's punt to the Wooster 40, however, setting up a Max Paulus 21-yard TD pass to Braden Layer and a 10-7 Big Red lead.

"We've talked about it and talked about it, and the bottom line is we just can't afford to make those kinds of mistakes when we get opportunities," said Schmitz. "Not only did we give away an opportunity in the first half, I for the life of me can't figure out why we continue to come out in the third quarter, and especially offensively, just lose our sense of urgency.

"We told our kids all week that emotions control everything they do out there on the football field, and to be quite honest, I don't think we are mentally ready yet, as a team, to be able to play our best football."

Following Layer's TD catch, things really got ugly for the Scots over the next 17 minutes.

The Big Red made it 17-7 as Paulus connected with DuShawn Brown on a 49-yard TD pass at the 5:56 mark of the third, just minutes after the Scots fumbled the ball away to Denison at the Big Red 40.

Denison's Sam Fioroni added another score for the Big Red, punching in from 3 yards out to make it 24-7 with 11:20 left in the fourth.

Denison padded its lead two possessions later, as an Obery punt was blocked at the Wooster 21.

Six plays later, Paulus found Layer on an 8-yard TD pass, making it a 30-7 Denison lead with 7:28 left.

"We were obviously struggling to score at that point in the game, and then when we turned it over, you're just asking for trouble and we ultimately paid the price for making those mistakes," said Schmitz.

Wooster did make things interesting over the last 4:48, however, as Barnes found McIntyre for a 9-yard TD pass, cutting the Big Red lead to 30-15.

The Scots added another score with 1:16 left, as Brett Frongillo, in for Barnes who was injured on the TD pass to McIntyre, found Adam Coppock wide open from 48 yards to make it 30-22.

The Scots had one final shot on the last play of the game from the Denison 48, but Frongillo was sacked at the Wooster 45 as time expired.

The Big Red dominated the time possession (39:38 to 20:18), while Fioroni rushed for a game-high 127 yards on 36 carries. Paulus finished the afternoon 15-of-25 for 192 yards, as Layer and Brown combined for 10 catches for 184 yards.

Barnes capped the afternoon 16-of-28 passing for 185 yards for the Scots, while Frongillo was 5-for-11 and 106 yards.